Alphonsus Liguori

Alphonsus passed away on August 1, 1787 at the Redemptorist Community in Pagani, Italy which was his abode post retirement.

Pope Pius VII carried out the process of Alphonsus' beatification in 1817. The Bishop was canonized two decades later by Pope Gregory XVI.

An institution dedicated to Moral Theology was founded by Redemptorists in 1949, to honour the late bishop. It was named the 'Alphonsus Academy'.

Alphonsus was born on 27 September 1696, in Naples, Italy, to Don Joseph de' Liguori and Anna Cavalieri Liguori. His father was a naval officer and his mother was of Spanish descent. Alphonsus was the eldest of the eight siblings.

Alphonsus underwent baptism just two days after his birth at a catholic place named ‘Church of Our Lady the Virgin’ during which he was christened ‘Alphonsus Mary Antony John Cosmas Damian Michael Gaspard de' Liguori’.

Following his father’s footsteps, Liguori wanted to be a military officer. However, Alphonsus was frequently plagued by ailments such as chronic asthma and poor eyesight which prevented him from entering the armed forces.

After gaining sufficient primary knowledge from private tutors, Alphonsus pursued his further studies in Canon and Civil Law from the esteemed University of Naples.

Alphonsus started working as a lawyer at the tender age of sixteen. Though he went on to become successful in this profession, Alphonsus disliked being a lawman and found his job to be quite difficult. After working for almost a decade, he hung his boots at the age of twenty seven.

Alphonsus then decided to serve the people by becoming a priest, and joined the ‘Oratory of St. Philip Neri’ in 1723 to achieve his goal. His father initially disapproved Alphonsus’ plans of giving up materialistic life and embracing sainthood, but later agreed to his son’s request after the intervention of the Oratorian Confessor.

In 1726, Alphonsus was declared a priest, when he was barely 30 years old. During his initial days as the father of the church, Alphonsus interacted closely with the homeless youth of Naples.

In 1729, Alphonsus relocated to the ‘Chinese Institute’ situated in the interiors of Naples, where he encountered much poorer individuals than the ones he had met before. He was involved in uplifting many people from this part of the kingdom later one.

One of Alphonsus’ major contributions was the ‘Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer’ which he founded as per Sister Maria Celeste Crostarosa’s advice in 1732. Sister Maria had apparently told Alphonsus that he was chosen by god to start the initiative.

Alphonsus penned his opinion on moral theology in books such as ‘Visits to the Blessed Sacrament’, ‘The True Spouse of Jesus Christ’ which was aimed at nuns, and ‘Selva’- a book dedicated to priests.